Veil Of Innocence
by Liathano Blackstar
Summary: This is during Kel's first year of squirdom. A newcomer who is related to the crown comes to Corus. Chaos will probably erupt. Who knows? I hope you all enjoy! And sorry for updating so late...i mean really late.
1. Chapter 1

Hey… um… I've had writers block for a while… a _long_ while. This is set at the time when Kel was a squire in her first year. She has come back to the palace for a while. 

All characters belong to the honourable Tamora Pierce except for the ones you don't recognise. Hope you all enjoy this.

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Veil Of Innocence

            Kel had just dropped her bags into her room when she was hit by what felt like an avalanche. She tried to get up but was hopelessly pinned down by Merric, Owen, Faleron and the others. Prince Roald stood solemnly at the door and next to him was Neal with a wry smile on his face. "Interesting…" He drawled.

"Thankyou for the remark Neal. Now could you save me from these Neanderthals?" Kel said sarcastically. She tried to get up but then fell down and surrendered to giggles. The others slowly got off her only to hug her to death as soon as she stood up.

"So anything interesting happen while I was away?" She asked.

"There is an interesting rumour about a female newcomer. She is related to the King somehow. She is an experienced fighter and will be training with us. She is 15, 5'10, and has very long hair." Neal said with a misty look in his eyes.

"Anything else we need to know?" said Cleon, "Like what colour her breast band is?" 

"I think they said it was black," said Neal, feigning a look of innocence. 

Everyone promptly found something soft to pound him with, Kel choosing her pillow. 

Neal stood up after being knocked to the ground. "Imbecilic children!" He said as he brushed himself off. 

"We may be younger Neal but I assure you our minds as mature as yours, perhaps more so," Roald said.

"Since your related to this newcomer shouldn't you know something about her? Why haven't we heard of her until now?" Kel asked.

"She is… different." Roald looked at loss for words. 

Neal cocked his eyebrow, "Now I'm interested, why is she so different?"

"First of all she is Fathers cousin. She owns the Duchy of Blackstar, where all the black pearls are mined, so technically she is a Duchess although she hates being called by that title..."

"But isn't she too young to be a Duchess, she is only 15 of course!" Cleon protested.

"True, but her father died in a fight against killer centaurs when she was 7 years of age and her mother tried to raise her with love but Lady Jezebel died when she was 11. So she put her head soldier in charge while she went on a journey to find out everything she can about the world. She only arrived back there 2 weeks ago. Now she is arriving here tonight and will be formally announced as the Duchess of Blackstar on the 4th day of Midwinter," Roald said.

"That still doesn't explain why you think she is different," Kel pointed out.

"I was getting to that part," Roald said. "She was born with a power but it is different to the gift or even wild magic."

"What else could it be?" Faleron asked.

"She has elemental magic, the power of fire to be more precise." Roald said to his bewildered audience. "It is a part of her, it's like _she_ is fire. She can mould to anything she wants. Last time I saw her she had just learned how to control her power, although that was 7 years ago, she would have changed greatly by now."

"Well that was… interesting." Kel said. "Anyone want to go to the practise courts?"

All of the males groaned but got up to go to the practice courts.

"Hey Roald!" Neal called as they were walking towards the sword rack. "By any chance, would you know the girls name?"

Everyone just laughed and slapped him on the head.

~~~~~~~~~~

A lone figure crouched on the edge of a cliff overlooking Corus; the wind swept the hair from her face as her deep red eyes glittered in the distance, surveying the city like a hawk watching its prey.

As she stood up she unbuckled her dark cloak, revealing the elegant garment underneath. She was wearing loose black pants with a sleeveless black tunic, which had symbols in silver thread. There were splits in the side seams of the tunic to allow plenty of movement. 

As she slid her sword back inside her sheath that was situated on her back, she whistled five short notes in quick succession.

A hawk swooped out of nowhere to land on her gloved, right arm. It nuzzled her hair as she stroked his mane of feathers.

"Do you have anything for me Xavier?" She asked in a soft voice that sounded sure of itself.

The hawk made a small sound and turned its head towards the castle centring its gaze on the training grounds.

Focus her gaze to where the hawk was directing her. She noticed a group of Squires training with staffs. Unusually there was a girl also training with them.

The young woman smiled slowly, red eyes glinting, "So they have finally allowed females to take their shield," she whispered.

She walked to her unnoticed horse with Xavier perched on her shoulder.

The black mare pawed at the ground, eager to get going.

She stroked the mare's white marking underneath one eye. "Calm down Whitestar, we will be setting out soon."

She proceeded to open a pouch on her saddle and take out a piece of raw meat. She then handed it to the hawk who chewed on it daintily. 

She vaulted onto the saddle and nudged her beloved mare forward, the hawk transferring to a specially made perch at the peak of the saddle.

"It's time to return home guys." She said softly as they went towards the road that led to the capital of Tortall.

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A/N- Well I hope you all liked the first chapter. Reviews would be welcome! Who is this new person? Is she a threat? Is it a she?  Lol…

Can anyone guess what her name is? Come on… there was a big hint in her Duchy. ~_^

If you see anything that you think is wrong tell me and I will fix it or explain in the next chapter! Um… like other people I don't like criticism but I guess it is all right as long as it's constructive. Oh well… got to start the 2nd chapter. 

Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce except for the characters you don't know. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for not continuing the story, I started the chapter but kept delaying, thanks to Midnight Knight for waking me up in order to finish the story. Murg… I can't write long chapters.

Okay. In this chapter, you will learn the name of this mysterious woman. Some things about her past may also be revealed.

Enjoy and keep the reviews coming! I like making my friend Queen of Vegetasei jealous. Hehehe.

Italics- [ ]

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Chapter Two

"Look! A pretty lady an' 'er horsy ridin' through these streets of scum," slurred a piteous man, presumably the head of the ragged pack of drunken fools behind him, " Maybe we should lead 'er ta heaven a lil early boys…"

The five-odd men situated behind him chuckled and started to some closer. The figure on the horse positioned herself on the saddle so that she was crouching on the tips of her toes. A dagger slid into her hand unnoticed by the drunken fools.

The leader lunged at her lunged at her. She somersaulted over him and as she stretched out to land, she kicked him firmly in the kidneys. He went down and her horse put a hoof on him to keep him there. The men stared at her, bewildered, it took a moment before they realised she was waiting for them to make the first move. 

Two came up to her at once holding crudely made stakes. The one-eyed man went to jab her stomach whilst the one with the scar aimed for her thigh. She jumped up and twisted 180° slamming each foot against both faces. She landed with her back against them and gutted scar face before lodging her dagger into the one-eyed man's throat. Picking up his stake, she threw it into a charging man's chest. Another ran towards her and as he struck she dropped to the ground and elevated her self onto her hands. Her legs went around his neck and after a shortly lived scream he sank to the ground, his neck broken. 

The last one remaining started to turn and runaway but before he could get more than a couple of paces ahead she slammed into him from behind. As she turned his face towards her she noticed that he was a youth, no more than 15. She hesitated before she realised he was gaining consciousness. With the words [leave no witnesses] drumming in her brain over and over, she decided to give him a quick death. 

She laid her hand upon his weak heart and the area around it started to glow. His breath stopped in an instant as she removed her hand to reveal a black scorch mark across his breast. She had burnt his heart to a crisp.

She walked back to he horse, taking time to dislodge her dagger from the one-eyed man's throat. She remembered the figure under her horse's hoof and pulled him up by his ragged hair. 

"No mercy…" she breathed as her red eyes glinted in the soft moonlight. She slit his throat.

~~~~~

Kel awoke before the crack of dawn as per usual. She was still sore from a week of riding to Tortall. She contemplated going back to sleep and awaiting the morning bell when she heard a shrill sound coming from her left ear. She sat up in pain and glared and Crown who innocent flew off her pillow and onto Kel's desk where and empty bowl of grains and water lay.

"Oh," she said sheepishly, "whoops." 

She stood up and went to the lines of birds on her desk. Kel carefully took a palm-full of grains and put them into the bowl, as an afterthought she added some dried berries as an apology to the birds.

Too awake to go back to sleep, Kel fetched her practice glaive from the wall and proceeded to do a complex series of jabs, twists and lunges; one of the most difficult pattern dances she knew.

After ten minutes of rigorous exercise she set down her glaive and went to bath herself. When she was ready she walked out the door, only to bump into Neal as he also made his way down to breakfast. His touch did not cause waves of desire burning through her anymore, he was back to being a normal friend. Utterly grateful, she turned and looked up at his face, which was filled with its normal morning dreariness.

"Good morning Nealan" she said sweetly, "Ready for another day of training at the practice courts?"

At that, Neal's head shot up and looked at her with pleading in his eyes, before swiftly changing to one of obvious annoyance.

"Okay, number one, only my least favoured Aunt calls me by that name and two…" his eyes changed back to pleading mode, "Please… no practicing today!"

"Practicing? Who said practicing? Not practicing again! Oh no! The horror of the practice courts!" Cleon piped up from behind.

Neal's left eye started to twitch as he trundled along, making it a humorous situation. Kel stifled a laugh, remembering just in time to keep her Yamani face blank. She slung one arm around each boy and together they walked towards the mess hall. 

~~~~~

It was around the time of midday, when all the most of the Squires were to be found on the practice courts. Sounds of metal and wood could be her clashing in quick succession; joyous laughter and groans were heard across the wide expanse of training space. 

Kel was sparring with Roald when they heard the palace guards sound the horns for a person approaching the main gate. All at once, most squires, Kel's group included, dropped what they were doing to head to the main entrance to see what was happening.

Raoul of Goldenlake was to be seen heading to the gate at a quick trot, Dom right behind him. They both had wide smiles on their faces.

Kel was puzzled at their behaviour as they signalled the guards to open the gate. The squires arrived just as the gate was opening.

The stranger outside the gates waited patiently for the gates to open, he appeared to be openly staring at the audience awaiting him, his face unseen thanks to a well-worn cloak hiding it from view.

He trotted his horse forward as the gates just finished opening, heading towards Raoul and Dom.

The figure withdrew the cloak from his head and took the entire thing off in one swift motion. To the Squires surprise the figure was not a male as previously thought. It was a female rider.

Kel stared dumbfounded at the beautiful creature before her. She had a slightly tanned complexion and her stance bore a regal tone. Her hair lay in wavy masses across her back, almost reaching her knees. It was held in a clasp, which appeared to look like a dagger. Her body was taut with muscles along every area, but her body was not so muscly that she would be considered masculine. It was clear that she was a well-trained fighter and athlete. Her facial features were smooth, however an unsightly scar marred her face, running over her left eye leaving a trail of healed skin.

The female scanned the crowd of onlookers before her eyes came to rest on Kel. A shiver ran up Kel's spine when she noticed that her eyes were an unearthly red in colour. They were a deep rich red that seemed to hold deep secrets and pain. Kel broke contact and looked at the floor. When she lifted her gaze again, the figure had now shifted her attention to Raoul and was now about to speak.

"Hello Raoul, it is a great pleasure to see you after all these years," she said softly yet clear enough for everyone to hear.

Raoul bowed slightly in acceptance. "It is a pleasure to meet to also Duchess Liathano of Blackstar, may your stay in the palace be pleasant," he replied before pulling her off her horse in a bone-crushing hug…

~~~~~

Well… what did you all think??? At least you all found out her name. Oh by the way, she was named Liathano because it meant child of flame in her mother's language.

If any of you recognise the name it comes from the main character from Kate Elliott's series "Crown of Stars", which is yet to be finished *grumble grumble* 

However the pairing of that name with Blackstar is mine…all mine!!! Muahahahaha!!!! 

Okay… so I am a little strange… I am just so happy at getting the chapter finished! *cries with tears of joy streaking down her face*

Ahh the happiness!

Reviews would be welcome; I'll accept criticism as well, as long as it is constructive. And please tell me if I have gotten something wrong, right now my books are in my room and my Brother is sleeping there…i.e. the place will be impenetrable until he awakes.

~Lia


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